cli-anything-mermaid

Create, edit, and render Mermaid diagrams via stateful project files and the mermaid.ink renderer. Designed for AI agents and power users who need to generate flowcharts, sequence diagrams, and other visualizations without a GUI.

Installation

This CLI is installed as part of the cli-anything-mermaid package:

pip install cli-anything-mermaid

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.10+
• No external software required (rendering uses mermaid.ink cloud service)

Usage

Basic Commands

# Show help
cli-anything-mermaid --help

# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-mermaid

# Create a new project
cli-anything-mermaid project new -o diagram.json

# Run with JSON output (for agent consumption)
cli-anything-mermaid --json project info

REPL Mode

When invoked without a subcommand, the CLI enters an interactive REPL session:

cli-anything-mermaid
# Enter commands interactively with tab-completion and history

Command Groups

Project

Project lifecycle commands.

Diagram

Diagram source manipulation commands.

Export

Render and share commands.

Session

Session state commands.

Examples

Create and Render a Flowchart

# Create a project with flowchart sample
cli-anything-mermaid project new --sample flowchart -o flow.json

# Replace diagram source
cli-anything-mermaid --project flow.json diagram set --text "graph TD; A-->B; B-->C;"

# Render to SVG
cli-anything-mermaid --project flow.json export render output.svg --format svg

Create a Sequence Diagram

# Create project with sequence sample
cli-anything-mermaid project new --sample sequence -o seq.json

# Set diagram from file
cli-anything-mermaid --project seq.json diagram set --file my_diagram.mmd

# Render to PNG
cli-anything-mermaid --project seq.json export render output.png --format png

Share a Diagram

# Generate an editable Mermaid Live URL
cli-anything-mermaid --project flow.json export share --mode edit

# Generate a view-only URL
cli-anything-mermaid --project flow.json export share --mode view

Interactive REPL Session

cli-anything-mermaid
# new flowchart
# set graph TD; A-->B; B-->C;
# render output.svg
# share
# quit

State Management

The CLI maintains session state with:

• Undo/Redo: Revert or replay diagram source changes
• Project persistence: Save/load project state as JSON
• Session tracking: Track modifications and changes

Output Formats

All commands support dual output modes:

• Human-readable (default): Tables, colors, formatted text
• Machine-readable (--json flag): Structured JSON for agent consumption

# Human output
cli-anything-mermaid project info

# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-mermaid --json project info

For AI Agents

When using this CLI programmatically:

1. Always use --json flag for parseable output
2. Check return codes - 0 for success, non-zero for errors
3. Parse stderr for error messages on failure
4. Use absolute paths for all file operations
5. Verify outputs exist after render operations

More Information

• Full documentation: See README.md in the package
• Test coverage: See TEST.md in the package
• Methodology: See HARNESS.md in the cli-anything-plugin

Version

1.0.0